Easing the discomfort, to find comfort

The practice of Yin Yoga has the double standard of being so easily accessible and yet, so difficult to ease in. Coming from an ever growing culture of the Yang, we scarcely give any space to a true Yin. As if, our short nights’ sleep were sufficient to restore and balance our forever running bodies. 

Let’s unravel the mysteries and beauty of dwelling into our Yin. 

Layer of the body 

While in western societies Yoga has more often than not become a new fitness tool, a machine of movement for doing, fueling and achieving; Yin Yoga takes a necessary step back. A soft remembrance of the beautiful power of simple rest. 

Simple I said? But, oh how so difficult it is for us to stop. In our daily lives, we are constantly pushed to DO, MAKE, PLAN or ACHIEVE. And consequently, most yoga practitioners will turn towards asana practices that continue in the same direction. Forgetting that Yin is however necessary to keep on fueling our Yang. Just like traditional Hatha Yoga looks at finding balance in the body between the left and the right, the moon and the sun & the Yin and Yang energy. It is important to include both practices in our routine. 

Yin is an accessible, adaptable and inclusive practice. A relatively “easy” practice some might say, because it is less challenging to the body. But just because you won’t sweat, does not mean the challenges do not lie elsewhere. 

Yin Yoga wants you to find comfort, within and without. The real struggle begins… once you realize that you need to consciously tell your body to relax. Have you ever noticed that even lying down, still, some tension remains? Some muscles are tensed, your breath might still be short, or stress pinches your heart. 

While you are on your mat, you must keep telling your body to relax, to melt, to let go. Slowly but surely relieving the automatic mechanisms, the locks and the fight or flight that the body keeps in score.  Yin Yoga forces you to stay still, because it is in the motionless that you truly become an observer. 

Layer of the mind 

But the biggest challenge still, is the one of the mind. As we literally spend our days in our heads, listening to the dramas of the mind and the fear of the ego, staying in total stillness and sometimes silence can be tricky. 

Focusing on movement helps us avoid diving deep within, to take a good look at what is dormant inside of you but it also makes us sometimes completely oblivious of what is actually happening inside. What is our body trying to tell us? What is our heart’s calling?

Of course at first, you might have some grocery shopping lists gathering up there or a “what’s this weird feeling in my knee??” but once you start to surrender, to follow the slow movement of your breath, you will feel your chest expand, your heart be set free and surely you will hear that inner voice again. 

Layer of spirit 

Yoga has never been just about the body. Practicing in consciousness is what brings us relief in all layers of our existence. However, more than any style of yoga, I see a particular connection in the practice of Yin. 

Yin Yoga gives you a particular taste of meditation. Going into “Shapes” and associating parts of the body to targeted visualization can bring you a distinct psycho-somatic relief - meaning, it can help you move stuck energy or negative emotions and liberate them.

It is in that space of stillness, more than in any other yoga practices, that you can really access parts of yourself that need to reveal themselves. 

On all levels Yin Yoga is far from shallow, it will stretch the deeper layer of your muscles, expand your mind and also drag you in your shadows.

Just to see that without light we could not see the shadows, without the dark, we could not see the light.